Spring awakening

With the sun, apparently, comes all of my motivation

Rarely do we Angelenos feel like we have a leg to stand on in the complaining about winter department. (It’s kind of why we all live here.) But this year! This year, we’ve had so much rain and it has been legitimately cold, so we get to join in on the fuck-winter chorus. We, collectively, are so over it. Even the ones who were all “I love the rain, it makes me feel so cozy” at the beginning are now like “ok, I moved to LA, not Seattle, what is going on?”

Photo credit: Patricia Niven, from Keeping it Simple by Yasmin Fahr

Maybe it’s part and parcel with the rain, maybe it’s been an intense start to the year, but I have felt pretty unmotivated in the kitchen so far in 2023. I have cooked some great recipes, sure. (No one needs to worry that we in this house aren’t eating well.) It’s just that my happy norm is feeling inspired to hop in the kitchen, barefoot and dancing, at least a few times per week to make something either time consuming or brand new or delicious or all three. But the last few months have sped by in such a swirl of stress (both the good and bad) that I have relied on good ol’ fashioned standbys. Until. Now.

Mark my words, my cooking and baking motivation is returning. I think it was when I went to the farmers market and bought a beautiful bunch of asparagus…I saw a video of Elizabeth Minchilli making pasta with wild asparagus and I was inspired to make this similar dish from NYT. And it was delicious. The next day, I actually wanted to pull a cookbook from my shelf.

What else shall we make now that the sun is coming back to restore our serotonin levels? My friend Yasmin Fahr’s tomato poached fish (above) is one of my all-time favorite warm weather recipes. It’s super simple, adaptable, and extremely delish. I’m also all-in on this healthy, easy broccoli soup for those still-chilly spring nights. Same goes for this green shakshuka with avocado and lime. Serve it with a take-and-bake La Brea Bakery baguette from the grocery store. I always have a pack of those in my freezer. This sheet pan chicken with potatoes is an excellent and easy (weeknight-friendly) template from which to play.